Florida Sites

The Works Progress Administration constructed a building the National Guard Armory in Live Oaks FL.

The Works Progress Administration built the National Guard Armory in Sanford FL. The building is still in service as the Florida National Guard Co B.

The W.P.A. conducted substantial development work at Key West NAS. Project details: "Construct a rifle range" Official Project Number: 165‐1‐35‐122 Total project cost: $16,364.00 Sponsor: Officer in Charge, Key West Naval Station, U.S. Navy "Construct facilities and improve grounds" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐35‐135 Total project cost: $44,338.00 Sponsor: Officer in Charge, Key West Naval Station, U.S. Navy "Improve grounds" Official Project Number: 265‐2‐35‐75 Total project cost: $32,158.00 Sponsor: Commandant, Naval Air Station, Key West, U.S. Navy "Improve municipal airport" Official Project Number: 665‐91‐2‐146 Total project cost: $125,028.00 Sponsor: War Department "Construct curbs, manhole covers, and rebuild roadways" Official Project Number: 265‐35‐1001 Total project cost: $8,358.00 Sponsor: Officer in Charge, U.S. Naval Station "Improve buildings, structures,...

WPA projects in Jefferson County, Florida included "five two-room frame school buildings for Negroes at Turkey Scratch, Bunker Hill, Lightsey, and Lamont." The locations and status of this building are unknown to Living New Deal.

WPA projects in Jefferson County, Florida included "two three-room and one four-room frame school buildings for Negroes at Monticello, a vocational school at Aucilla, three one-room schools for Negroes in various parts of the county, and five two-room frame school buildings for Negroes at Turkey Scratch, Bunker Hill, Lightsey, and Lamont." The locations and status of these buildings are unknown to Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration constructed the Neptune Beach sea wall in Neptune Beach FL. The wall prevented beach erosion and provided protection against high tide. It was completed circa 1938.

Miami's old Northwest 27th Avenue Bridge was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The bridge was completed 1939; however, it was largely replaced upon renovation during the late 1980s. Living New Deal believes the moving bridge is PWA Docket No. FL W1343; the PWA supplied a $188,100 grant for the project, whose total cost was $386,012. Construction occurred between October 1938 and November 1939. Interestingly, upon replacement the old tender house was, instead of being destroyed, removed, relocated, and reconstructed to the front of Miami's Wolfsonian—FIU museum. Soulofmiami.org: "The hexagonal, stainless-steel Bridge Tender House was built in 1939 for the Northwest 27th...

"One of Florida's first state parks, O'Leno was first developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. The suspension bridge built by the CCC still spans the river. Visitors can picnic at one of the pavilions or fish in the river for their dinner." (www.floridastateparks.org)

The Farm Security Administration build this camp in 1939 to house black farm workers from the Caribbean. While there is still housing here, this is no longer a camp.

Florida's former State Capitol (commonly known as the Old Capitol) received an addition as part of a New Deal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The enlargement was a wing at the north end of the Capitol. Florida Memory: "The Florida State Capitol enlargement in 1936-1937 was a joint project between the Florida Construction Program and the Public Works Administration. M. Leo Elliott, Architect, of Tampa, Florida, was responsible for the architectural drawings and plans for the Capitol project." The PWA supplied an $112,347 grant toward the project, whose total cost was $261,382. Construction began Sept. 29, 1936 and was completed Oct. 26,...

"Sites of WPA projects to preserve historic shrines include ... City Gates, St. Augustine, Florida."

Originally known as the Roddey Burdine Stadium, the historic former Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida was built with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1936-1937. The structure was demolished in 2008.

The FERA started and the WPA completed the Orangebrook Golf Course (which has since been expanded).  

The Farm Security Administration build this camp for white farm workers about 1939. While there is still housing there, the camp no longer exist.

"The Overseas Highway is a 127.5-mile (205.2 km) highway carrying U.S. Route 1 (US 1) through the Florida Keys. Large parts of it were built on the former right-of-way of the Overseas Railroad, the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway. Completed in 1912, the Overseas Railroad was heavily damaged and partially destroyed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. The Florida East Coast Railway was financially unable to rebuild the destroyed sections, so the roadbed and remaining bridges were sold to the State of Florida for $640,000." www.wikipedia.org   "The F.E.C. Railway was washed up in more ways than one - it...

"The development of the Pensacola International Airport began during the Great Depression. Conner Hagler, owner of the San Carlos Hotel, and Harry Blanchard, a barnstorming pilot originally from Virginia, bought 504 acres of thick woodland on Skinner’s Mill Road (12th Avenue) in 1933. The first commercial flight in Pensacola landed on 7 April 1934, with a 14-passenger tri-motor Stinson of Atlantic and Gulf Coast Airlines. At that time, Pensacola’s airport began operation with of two grass-strip runways and an old hangar which had once belonged to the Navy. In 1935, the City of Pensacola sponsored a project through the Works...

The Works Progress Administration built the Perrine Community House in Palmetto Bay FL in 1935. Used by Perrine Women's Club, South Dade Chamber of Commerce, Village of Palmetto Bay.

"Peter O. Knight Airport...is an airport on Davis Islands, five minutes (3 NM or 5.6 km or 3.5 mi) from downtown Tampa, Florida. Built as a Works Progress Administration project, it was Tampa's main airport from 1935 to 1945, and is still used by general aviation operators today because of its proximity to the central city. The airport was named for prominent attorney and businessman Peter O. Knight, namesake of Holland & Knight. The airport's original administration building was torn down in the 1960s, and replaced by the current building. Although seaplanes aren't quite as popular anymore, the basin is still there at Davis...

The WPA spent $186,000 improving Plant Park in the 1930s.

The Works Progress Administration built a playground in Miami Springs FL. The location and condition of this facility are unknown to the Living New Deal.

The Arcadia, Florida post office was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1936-7. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is still in use today.

The historic post office in Jasper, Florida was constructed in 1941 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building houses examples of New Deal artwork and is still in service.

The historic Lake Wales, Florida post office was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1940. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is still in use today.

The historic post office in Lake Worth, Florida was constructed in 1940 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building is still in service.

The historic post office in Madison, Florida was constructed in 1936 with Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is still in service.

"The Miami Beach Post Office is a historic 1937 Art Moderne U.S. Post Office building in Miami Beach, Florida designed by Howard Lovewell Cheney." The historic building, which houses examples of New Deal artwork, was constructed with historic Treasury Department funds.

The Starke, Florida post office was constructed with federal funds. The building, which opened in 1941, is still in use today.

The historic former post office building in Cocoa, Florida was constructed in 1939 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building is now home to the State Headquarters of the Florida Historical Society.

The historic former post office building in DeFuniak Springs, Florida was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The New Deal building, which is located at the northwest corner of Highway 90 and 7th St., is now privately owned. An example of New Deal artwork created for the building has been relocated to the current DeFuniak Springs postal facility.

The historic Fort Pierce post office and federal building was constructed in 1935 with federal Treasury Department funds. Its construction is sometimes mis-attributed to the WPA. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. While it no longer houses the city's post office, the building continues to serve civic functions.

The former post office at 95 N County Road in Palm beach, Florida is a striking example of Spanish Colonial Revival design. It was constructed in 1936-7 with Treasury Department funds and houses examples of New Deal artwork. NRHP nomination form: "The building is made of stucco. The interior has maple wood floors except for the lobby which has a tile floor. The lobby is very impressive. Decorative exposed cypress beams (never refinished) in excellent condition are on the lobby ceiling. Hanging in the lobby are three murals painted by Charles Rosen completed in 1938 depicting Seminole Indian scenes. ... The lobby...

The historic former post office building in Perry, Florida was constructed with Treasury Department funds in a project sponsored by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). This 1935 building was the only PWA project undertaken in Taylor County. The building became listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 and now serves as an administrative complex for the county.

The historic post office in downtown Plant City, Florida was constructed in 1935 with federal Treasury Department funds.  Originally the city's main post office, it became the post office's Downtown Station. Service was suspended in 2013 and formally discontinued at the location in 2015. The building is currently slated to be sold.

Section of Fine Arts "mural entitled "Loading Pulpwood" painted by George Snow Hill in 1941. When a new post office was built, it was moved to the Santa Rosa Historical Society Museum. A fire there in the last few years, resulted in the mural being moved back to it's original location in the old post office." (flickr)

With support from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, Charles Rosen painted "Seminole Indians" and "Landscape," a set of three (yes, three) murals for the now-former Palm Beach post office in 1938. Unfortunately the murals are not (as of 2022) publicly accessible. According to the Palm Beach Post "you can peek through the glass doors and see the lobby." Per the Palm Beach Post: "In the late 1930s, the post office commissioned Rosen, a co-founder of the Woodstock School of Painting, to create three murals: an enormous map of the Hudson Valley for the Beacon, N.Y., branch; a contemporary view of...

"The David W. Dyer Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, formerly known simply as the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, is an historic United States Post Office and federal courthouse of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida located at 300 Northeast 1st Avenue in Miami, Florida... The mural Law Guides Florida Progress completed by artist Denman Fink in 1941 is located above the judge's bench and is flanked by two pairs of Ionic marble pilasters. The mural depicts the positive impact of justice guiding Florida's economic development. Fink included a likeness of himself as a draftsman and...

This mural entitled "Scene of Town" was painted in 1942 by Thomas I. Laughlin. It was a winner of the Treasury Section's 48-State competition. It was moved to the "new" post office in 1989.

The historic Lake Wales post office houses an example of New Deal artwork: a Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Harvest Time—Lake Wales." The work was painted by Denman Fink in 1942.

The "Settler Fighting Alligator in Rowboat" mural was installed at the Lake Worth Post Office Mural. According to the Palm Beach Post: "It was painted by Tampa artist Joseph D. Myers under a different program that the Federal Works Agency’s Public Buildings Administration commissioned in 1941. Artists submitted designs anonymously to an advisory panel, comprising a University of Florida architecture teacher and two Florida mural artists. The panel selected Tampa artist Joseph D. Myers, giving him a first prize of $1,000. According to materials supplied by Myers’ family, Myers and the federal bureaucrat in charge of the program squabbled for months over the...

The historic post office in Madison, Florida houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Long Staple Cotton," an oil-on-canvas mural completed by George Snow Hill in 1937. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. This mural, along with several others under the care of USPS, were covered following complaints about its content in Aug. 2020. Greene Publishing reported on the mural's getting covered with black plastic: The painting depicts workers preparing cotton to be bailed and shipped out. The painting pays tribute to the long staple cotton industry that was the economic engine that drove much of...